Apparatus for measuring distance using two-step tracking based on SPAD sensor and method thereof

Abstract

Disclosed are an apparatus for measuring distance using two-step tracking and a method thereof. More particularly, the apparatus includes a bit generator configured to generate coarse bits for first tracking from sensing data to measure distance to a target and fine bits for second tracking, corresponding to the coarse bits, to measure precise distance to the target; a coarse bit processor configured to receive the coarse bits, address the received coarse bits in any one histogram bin, which corresponds to the received coarse bits, among a plurality of histogram bins, and output coarse bits, which correspond to any one histogram bin exceeding a preset threshold among the histogram bins, as reference coarse bits; and a fine bit processor configured to output fine bits corresponding to the reference coarse bits.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application claims the priority benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2017-0101161, filed on Aug. 9, 2017 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSUREField of the Disclosure[0002]The present disclosure relates to an apparatus for measuring distance based on a single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) sensor and a method thereof, and more particularly, to an apparatus for measuring distance using two-step tracking based on a SPAD sensor and a method thereof.Description of the Related Art[0003]One macro pixel is constituted of 12 or 24 SPADs and an array is constituted of a plurality of macro pixels in conventional distance measuring apparatuses, which cause increase of an area and design complexity.[0004]In addition, a conventional distance measuring apparatus stores distance (time) data, which is output based on a SPAD included in a macro pixel, i...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010]It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for measuring a distance characterized by performing two-step tracking, which uses coarse bits and fine bits, to reduce the capacity and area of memory, and a method thereof.

[0011]It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for and a method of measuring a distance characterized in that a plurality of single pixels, each of which is provided with one SPAD and five transistors, externally share a comparator, thereby increasing a fill factor and further reducing a used area.

Problems solved by technology

One macro pixel is constituted of 12 or 24 SPADs and an array is constituted of a plurality of macro pixels in conventional distance measuring apparatuses, which cause increase of an area and design complexity.

However, the aforementioned distance measuring apparatus requires a large memory because the size of the histogram increases according to the number of pixels and a full scale range.

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